FIG. 1 depicts a top view of a conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10. The magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) apparatus or other magnetic write apparatus. The conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be a part of a merged head including the write apparatus 10 and a read apparatus (not shown). The write apparatus 10 includes a pole 12 as well as other components. For example, the write apparatus may include a nonmagnetic gap layer, side shield(s), a leading shield, a trailing shield and coils for energizing the pole 12. The pole has a total length d1 in the yoke direction and a width d2 in the cross track direction. The aspect ratio is the length divided by the width (d1/d2). The aspect ratio is significantly less than one and may be less than 0.5.
Although the conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10 functions, there are drawbacks. For higher areal densities, higher data rates are also desired. A high data rate requires a reduced field rise time while maintaining a sufficient field magnitude. Similarly, sufficiently small wide area track erasure (WATer) and domain lockup are desired. The conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be unable to meet these specifications.